Chhota Bheem on Pogo to lend itself to promotional and product licensing

The show, launched in 2008 by Pogo, has emerged as the most popular and successful property on the channel

Chhota Bheem, the popular animated character on kids' channel Pogo, is all set to move beyond TV.

Pogo is looking at extending the Indian animation superhero character, Chhota Bheem into promotional and product licensing. As part of promotional licensing, the channel is exploring opportunities of licensing the character to interested advertisers for individual product promotions.

Chhota Bheem on Pogo to lend itself to promotional and product licensing

With product licensing, the idea is to come out with a range of Chhota Bheem products, including apparel, gifts and other novelties.

"For Pogo, 25 per cent of its total revenue comes on the back of Chhota Bheem," claims Monica Tata, vice-president and deputy general manager - Entertainment Networks, South Asia, Turner International India.

Originally launched in 2008, Chhota Bheem, over the last two years, has emerged as the most popular and successful property on Pogo.

As a driver show on Pogo, Chhota Bheem boasts of advertisers such as Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Healthcare, Perfetti Vanmelle India, Nestlé India, Kellogg India, Mattel Toys, Cadbury India and Wrigley India.

Between 2008 and 2010, with four seasons of Chhota Bheem, the channel has so far produced 80 hours of 30-minute content; it also has three full-length, 60-minute feature films based on the character, which are aired on special occasions such as Janmashtami and Holi.

Tata mentions that the Indian animation per se continues to deliver high on ratings, in comparison to any other genre in kids' entertainment. She adds that the success of Desi Toons on Turner's network channels, Cartoon Network and Pogo proves this.

Chhota Bheem is a nine-year-old kid who lives in the fictional town of Dholakpur. The character is inspired by the legendary Bheem from the Mahabharata. The show, which traces the exploits of Chhota Bheem and his gang of friends, is an original co-production between Turner International India and Hyderabad-based Green Gold studios.

Describing Chhota Bheem's following among kids, Tata claims that between February and August this year, kids downloaded as many as 30,000 e-card applications of Chhota Bheem on the channel's website. A total of two-and-half lakh videos of the show were also watched by the kids.

In fact, this year, the channel is undertaking a school contact programme for the contest titled 'Bheem Ki Team'. As part of this, Pogo is reaching out to five lakh students in 500 schools.

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